gotten her – them – into.
“It’s just that I know the twins will be running us both ragged in a few months,” she said. “I don’t want to take advantage of your kindness and exhaust you before they even get here.”
“You’re not – you won’t. I want to help, more than I want anything else.” He looked directly into her eyes, willing her to see the truth in his.
“Why?”
“I don’t want you to regret that I got you pregnant.” His words came out flat, but something tightened in the center of his chest, winding taut, ready to break. He knew she had every reason to regret it, knew any woman in her situation might be sorry she hadn’t been more careful … but he didn’t want that to be her, couldn’t stand the thought of her wishing she could take it all back.
He knew all about wanting to take things back. It wasn’t a good feeling.
Her eyes widened. “I don’t. I mean, it’s hard being pregnant when I didn’t plan to be. But we’re together, and I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty happy about that. After the past month and a half, how could you think I’d ever regret it?”
He shrugged. The surface of his mind was insulated against easy reassurance like a duck’s back was against water, and her words went right over it, over him. “You wouldn’t be the first.”
CHAPTER 7
Abby sat so still she might as well have been frozen. “What?”
A twinge of guilt struck him. Maybe that hadn’t been the best way to say it, but plunging into the truth was the only way he’d be able to bring it up at all. “Not long before I met you – the first time – I’d been seeing someone else. We’d been together for about a year, and she lived with me – I thought it was serious. But she got pregnant, and didn’t tell me until after she’d had an abortion. And then she left, to be with someone else.”
It was such a short story, but it left a sick feeling in his gut and a bitter taste in his mouth. He’d never wanted to confess to anyone, least of all Abby. Was it insulting to expect her to be happy to be having his babies when a lesser woman had considered herself too good for the same situation?
“How long ago was that?”
“She left about five months ago.” Not long before they’d met, at the bar, that night in July. If only it’d been longer – it would’ve been better to have more distance between now and the past. The shame still burnt white-hot as he looked into Abby’s eyes.
“That’s why I was at the bar.” The truth was out now – he might as well tell all of it. “I told you I don’t normally do one night stands, and I meant it. I just wanted to forget about everything that had happened for once … for good.”
He couldn’t quite read her. Her eyes shone a little too brightly, but there was no telling whether she was angry, sad or maybe just shocked.
“I was there because I wanted to get out after a break-up, too,” she finally said. “It’d been my decision to end things, and the break-up wasn’t half as traumatic as yours, but you know how it is when you’ve been with someone for a while. I’d been feeling down and didn’t want to think about my ex anymore.”
Her admission brought back memories of that night. It might not have been the most romantic of meetings, but it had been exciting … fun. Flirting with her had wiped everything else from his mind for the night, and even afterward, he’d felt more alive than he had in a long time.
Had it been the same way for her? “Did it work – did you forget?”
She nodded. “Better than I expected it to, really. A friend of mine talked me into going – she said a month was too long to sulk after splitting up with a lame guy like my ex, and she was right. At first I thought it was stupid to go hanging around a bar, flirting with strangers, but… I guess you were the right stranger. I thought about you a hell of a lot more than I thought about my old boyfriend, after that night.
“It’s just that I know the twins will be running us both ragged in a few months,” she said. “I don’t want to take advantage of your kindness and exhaust you before they even get here.”
“You’re not – you won’t. I want to help, more than I want anything else.” He looked directly into her eyes, willing her to see the truth in his.
“Why?”
“I don’t want you to regret that I got you pregnant.” His words came out flat, but something tightened in the center of his chest, winding taut, ready to break. He knew she had every reason to regret it, knew any woman in her situation might be sorry she hadn’t been more careful … but he didn’t want that to be her, couldn’t stand the thought of her wishing she could take it all back.
He knew all about wanting to take things back. It wasn’t a good feeling.
Her eyes widened. “I don’t. I mean, it’s hard being pregnant when I didn’t plan to be. But we’re together, and I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty happy about that. After the past month and a half, how could you think I’d ever regret it?”
He shrugged. The surface of his mind was insulated against easy reassurance like a duck’s back was against water, and her words went right over it, over him. “You wouldn’t be the first.”
CHAPTER 7
Abby sat so still she might as well have been frozen. “What?”
A twinge of guilt struck him. Maybe that hadn’t been the best way to say it, but plunging into the truth was the only way he’d be able to bring it up at all. “Not long before I met you – the first time – I’d been seeing someone else. We’d been together for about a year, and she lived with me – I thought it was serious. But she got pregnant, and didn’t tell me until after she’d had an abortion. And then she left, to be with someone else.”
It was such a short story, but it left a sick feeling in his gut and a bitter taste in his mouth. He’d never wanted to confess to anyone, least of all Abby. Was it insulting to expect her to be happy to be having his babies when a lesser woman had considered herself too good for the same situation?
“How long ago was that?”
“She left about five months ago.” Not long before they’d met, at the bar, that night in July. If only it’d been longer – it would’ve been better to have more distance between now and the past. The shame still burnt white-hot as he looked into Abby’s eyes.
“That’s why I was at the bar.” The truth was out now – he might as well tell all of it. “I told you I don’t normally do one night stands, and I meant it. I just wanted to forget about everything that had happened for once … for good.”
He couldn’t quite read her. Her eyes shone a little too brightly, but there was no telling whether she was angry, sad or maybe just shocked.
“I was there because I wanted to get out after a break-up, too,” she finally said. “It’d been my decision to end things, and the break-up wasn’t half as traumatic as yours, but you know how it is when you’ve been with someone for a while. I’d been feeling down and didn’t want to think about my ex anymore.”
Her admission brought back memories of that night. It might not have been the most romantic of meetings, but it had been exciting … fun. Flirting with her had wiped everything else from his mind for the night, and even afterward, he’d felt more alive than he had in a long time.
Had it been the same way for her? “Did it work – did you forget?”
She nodded. “Better than I expected it to, really. A friend of mine talked me into going – she said a month was too long to sulk after splitting up with a lame guy like my ex, and she was right. At first I thought it was stupid to go hanging around a bar, flirting with strangers, but… I guess you were the right stranger. I thought about you a hell of a lot more than I thought about my old boyfriend, after that night.
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